Elon Musk: SpaceX CEO makes terrifying statement on mankind's existence

Where are all the aliens that science fiction has promised us? You're not the only one wondering if we're alone in this vast universe. This question also tickles the fancy of the richest man on the planet, Elon Musk. On the network known as Twitter (the name may soon change), the billionaire wondered about the existence of aliens. The tweet went viral, starting a discussion about a well-known paradox that has been driving scientists crazy for ages...

Fermi's paradox

If the Universe is vast, even infinite, that means there must be a significant number of planets similar to our own. Habitable and even inhabited worlds, where other civilizations have developed with other forms of life and intelligence.

But if these extraterrestrials are (potentially) so numerous, why haven't we detected them? Why haven't they contacted us? This is the Fermi paradox, an existential question posed by Enrico Fermi in 1950.

70 years later, still no answer, still no alien in sight. But the question is still being asked by many bewildered humans, because the two possible answers are equally frightening...

Read more:UFOs: The terrifying revelations of the first British astronaut

'A small candle of consciousness in the abyss'

For Elon Musk, solitude is the scariest answer to this paradox:

The creepiest answer to Fermi's paradox is that there are no aliens at all. We're just a little candle of consciousness in the abyss.

Being the only island of intelligence in a black ocean of cyclopean dimensions is indeed frightening. But the other possible answer to Fermi's paradox isn't necessarily any happier. As science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke put it:

Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the universe, or we are not. Both hypotheses are equally frightening.

And if that doesn't depress you enough, wait until you hear about the possible reasons for the absence of extraterrestrials... It is impossible to sum up the full extent of Fermi's paradox in one article, but we'll try in a few words: either we're the first humans ever, which is a good sign but a bit sad, or... all intelligent civilizations are doomed to self-destruct before they can set out to conquer the galaxy, due to a Great Filter yet to be determined, such as the triggering of a weapon capable of decimating a planet to the ground, for example.

Read more:NASA's strange way to save astronauts that get lost in space

This article has been translated from Gentside FR.

Sources used:

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